AlanLichty
Moderator
I took a lot more images of flowers and wildlife this last year than landscapes so that takes center stage for my Best Of collection this year. I also got my hands on a new camera in August (Canon R5 Mark II) which also played a part in what is getting featured below. I have never had a camera with AF for action shots at this level before and I have been exploring more bird photography than I have ever done in the past.
1. First up - a Pileated Woodpecker I spotted while hiking in Rooster Rock State Park in the Columbia River Gorge. I have always wanted to get a shot of one of these birds ever since moving to the NW 26 years ago and finally got my chance in late October. Sadly I didn't have a long lens with me and had to make do with a 24-105mm.
2. Playing around trying out the new camera in my backyard in early fall and discovered a Pacific Chorus frog lurking on a blueberry branch waiting for lunch to come past. I really liked the light I had to work with here.
3. Shooting bees working over an echinops bloom in my backyard in late August and caught this small scene with a ladybug on the stem. I liked the selective focus from using a 100-400mm lens on a small scene.
4. Yet another backyard scene - Blueberry bushes can put on quite a show in the fall and the saturation can get intense on a cloudy day. I loved the range of color I got from this particular shot in early November.
5. One of the places where I got some neat captures this year was in front of a grocery store in the Salmon Creek area. They put potted plants out for sale near the store entrance and if you shop in the morning you can catch the blooms not long after they water the plants. This was from a shopping trip in late May.
6. Whenever I see some good light for sunrises and sunsets one of the easiest ways for me to get good shot of them is to step out on my deck and launch my drone. Having 3 lens choices gives me a lot of leeway for how to capture the colors and in this case I selected the 166mm lens for a shot of Mt. Adams during a nice sunrise color show in late January. I liked the cloud colors and the fog filled valleys in the Cascade foothills.
7. On one of my only road trips this past year I visited one of my favorite areas in the Oregon Coast Range near Florence. This is along the North Fork of the Siuslaw River with a scene in late October. This is one of the pullouts where I always stop to take in the muted fall colors that are typical of NW rainforests areas.
8. I am a sucker for any good chance to shoot a Great Blue Heron and got a good view of one perched in a tree a few weeks ago in the Salmon Creek Greenway Park not far from where I live.
9. Some bees working over a sedum bloom in my backyard in late summer. I was delighted to get this level of detail once again using a 100-400mm lens for handheld closeup work.
10. Birds in flight have never been a prime target for my photography prior to acquiring this new mirrorless camera. One of the big surprises for me was discovering that the camera could do high speed Auto Focus using my seemingly ancient 100-400mm lens (circa 2007) with a 2x tele-converter for 800mm captures of a swan flying at a high rate of speed directly towards me. I have honestly never even considered trying to take a shot like this before. This capture in early December raised my level of interest in bird photography to a whole new level.
Thanks for looking.
1. First up - a Pileated Woodpecker I spotted while hiking in Rooster Rock State Park in the Columbia River Gorge. I have always wanted to get a shot of one of these birds ever since moving to the NW 26 years ago and finally got my chance in late October. Sadly I didn't have a long lens with me and had to make do with a 24-105mm.
2. Playing around trying out the new camera in my backyard in early fall and discovered a Pacific Chorus frog lurking on a blueberry branch waiting for lunch to come past. I really liked the light I had to work with here.
3. Shooting bees working over an echinops bloom in my backyard in late August and caught this small scene with a ladybug on the stem. I liked the selective focus from using a 100-400mm lens on a small scene.
4. Yet another backyard scene - Blueberry bushes can put on quite a show in the fall and the saturation can get intense on a cloudy day. I loved the range of color I got from this particular shot in early November.
5. One of the places where I got some neat captures this year was in front of a grocery store in the Salmon Creek area. They put potted plants out for sale near the store entrance and if you shop in the morning you can catch the blooms not long after they water the plants. This was from a shopping trip in late May.
6. Whenever I see some good light for sunrises and sunsets one of the easiest ways for me to get good shot of them is to step out on my deck and launch my drone. Having 3 lens choices gives me a lot of leeway for how to capture the colors and in this case I selected the 166mm lens for a shot of Mt. Adams during a nice sunrise color show in late January. I liked the cloud colors and the fog filled valleys in the Cascade foothills.
7. On one of my only road trips this past year I visited one of my favorite areas in the Oregon Coast Range near Florence. This is along the North Fork of the Siuslaw River with a scene in late October. This is one of the pullouts where I always stop to take in the muted fall colors that are typical of NW rainforests areas.
8. I am a sucker for any good chance to shoot a Great Blue Heron and got a good view of one perched in a tree a few weeks ago in the Salmon Creek Greenway Park not far from where I live.
9. Some bees working over a sedum bloom in my backyard in late summer. I was delighted to get this level of detail once again using a 100-400mm lens for handheld closeup work.
10. Birds in flight have never been a prime target for my photography prior to acquiring this new mirrorless camera. One of the big surprises for me was discovering that the camera could do high speed Auto Focus using my seemingly ancient 100-400mm lens (circa 2007) with a 2x tele-converter for 800mm captures of a swan flying at a high rate of speed directly towards me. I have honestly never even considered trying to take a shot like this before. This capture in early December raised my level of interest in bird photography to a whole new level.
Thanks for looking.
